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Sunday, May 28, 2017

The last of key missing personnel are back from European play and the presence of veteran guards Allie Quigley and Courtney Vandersloot figure to help as the Chicago Sky seek to break out after a 1-4 start.

Chicago hosts the Connecticut Sun (0-4) in the first meeting of the season between the WNBA teams on Sunday at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill.

Vandersloot returned from European competition and played more than 22 minutes in Friday's 88-79 loss at the Washington Mystics in the finale of a home-and-home set.

"It's nice to be back," Vandersloot said. "My teammates make it easy on me to just step in and fill in wherever I need.

"I am not quite as comfortable; it is a new system. It's a process and it is going to take some time, but my teammates make it easy on me and I am really happy to be back."

Vandersloot is a 3-point threat who averaged more than 10 points per game last year.

Chicago guard Allie Quigley also had European commitments but returned in time to notch more than 35 minutes in last Wednesday's 82-67 home loss to the Mystics.

She had a team-high 17 points on Friday at Washington's Verizon Center as the Sky made a late run from a 24-point deficit but couldn't get any closer than nine.

"We were able to pick up the pressure defensively and we also got our legs underneath us and get shots in rhythm," Sky coach Amber Stock said.

Connecticut is coming off a 82-68 to Minnesota at home in a Friday game that saw coach Curt Miller go to his bench, by necessity, in the second half.

"When the game got out of reach, and we were not going to be able to make a comeback, you have to start to prepare for the next game," he said. "We have a really quick turnaround, so we needed to give the bench more time, and we also needed to start preparing for our Chicago game."

Morgan Tuck tops the Sun in scoring (13.0 points) but had just six points on Friday. Jonquel Jones leads in rebounding (10) and is second in scoring (12.5).

Cappie Pondexter is Chicago's top scorer (15.4 points) and assist leader (8.2), and Jessica Breland has a team-leading 8.2-rebound average.

The Sky won two of three meetings between the teams in 2016.